Annoying

The transport rumbled along the cracked road, its heavy-duty tires crunching over debris. Sunny stared out the window, trying to ignore the mage sitting next to him.

"So what's your build?" Lina asked, her eyes wide with curiosity. "You must have some kind of combat spec to take down seven monsters as cleanup crew."

Sunny shifted away. "I don't have a 'build.' I'm not a Player."

"Everyone has a build," she insisted, leaning closer. "Even NPCs have basic stat distributions."

His shadow rippled beneath him, responding to his irritation.

"Back off," he said, voice low.

She didn't move. "Your shadow just moved. That's interesting. Some kind of shadow manipulation skill? Those are rare."

From across the transport, Nyx snorted. "Leave the porter alone, Lina. He's not a science project."

"But he's interesting," she protested, still staring at Sunny like he was a particularly fascinating specimen. "Normal cleaners don't kill monsters."

Aria looked up from her map. "If our porter wants to keep his skills private, that's his business."

"Thank you," he muttered.

"Though I am curious how someone with combat potential ended up in cleanup rather than a combat division," Aria added, eyes narrowing slightly.

Sunny's jaw tightened. "Failed the Player testing years ago."

That shut them up—for about ten seconds.

"What was your score?" Lina asked, somehow even closer now. "You must have been just below the cutoff. Was it the aptitude section or the—"

"Lina!" Brynn barked. "Leave him alone."

The tall woman gave Sunny an apologetic look. "Sorry about her. She collects data on everything."

"It's for my research," she explained, not sounding sorry at all. "The correlation between Player potential and—"

"Nobody cares," Nyx interrupted, cleaning her nails with the tip of a dagger. "He's just here to carry our stuff."

Sunny's shadow darkened. For a moment, he imagined it reaching up, wrapping around Nyx's throat—

[WARNING: HOSTILE INTENT DETECTED] 

[VOID ABSORPTION RESPONDING TO EMOTION] 

[CONTROL RECOMMENDED]

He took a deep breath and forced the feeling down.

"How much longer?" he asked nobody in particular.

"Twenty minutes," Aria replied, watching him with newfound interest. "Not a fan of company, porter?"

"Not a fan of being treated like a curiosity."

To his surprise, she laughed. "Fair enough. Lina, leave the man alone."

Lina pouted but finally gave him some space.

The rest of the ride passed in blessed silence, broken only by occasional whispers between the heroes. Sunny caught Brynn glancing at him now and then, her expression unreadable.

When the transport finally rolled to a stop, Sunny was the first one out the door.

The dungeon entrance loomed before them.

Beside it were two guards in thermal gear, standing at attention.

Sunny adjusted the straps of the oversized pack they loaded him with. Already his shoulders ached, but he'd rather die than complain in front of these "heroes."

"Halt," the taller guard called out as they approached. "Identification and permits."

Aria stepped forward, her red braid whipping in the wind. "Radiant Dawn Guild, B-rank party." She handed over a glowing crystal card. "We have clearance for this dungeon."

The guard scanned the card with a small device that beeped green. His eyes moved past Aria to the rest of the group, stopping when they reached Sunny.

"Who's this? He does not have any guild badge."

Sunny kept his face blank as the guard scrutinized him.

Nyx snorted. "That's our pack mule. SEM provided him."

"Support personnel," Aria corrected with a sharp glance at Nyx. "He'll handle our equipment and camp logistics."

The shorter guard frowned. "This is a Level 5 dungeon. Non-Players aren't authorized beyond Level 3."

"He has a special exemption." Aria produced another document. "Signed by Director Pierce himself."

The guards exchanged looks.

"Your funeral," the taller one finally said, but he wasn't looking at Aria. He was looking at Sunny. "Most support personnel don't last an hour in Level 5s."

"I'm aware of the risks," he said.

"He's tougher than he looks," Brynn added unexpectedly, hefting her massive hammer onto her shoulder. "Let's go. Daylight's wasting."

The guards stepped aside, activating the dungeon portal. The air within shimmered, revealing swirling mists and flashes of white landscape beyond.

"Remember," the shorter guard warned, "emergency extraction beacon only works in the first three levels. After that, you're on your own until you clear the dungeon."

"We know the drill," Nyx said with a roll of her eyes. She pushed past him toward the portal. "Come on, porter. Try not to die in the first five minutes."

Sunny fought the urge to trip her as she passed. His fists clenched, and for a brief moment, his shadow stretched toward her feet.

"Easy," Lina whispered beside him. She noticed something. "She's always like that with newcomers."

He pulled his shadow back and nodded curtly.

Aria went through first, followed by Nyx, then Brynn. Lina gestured for Sunny to go next.

He took a deep breath and stepped through the portal.

Cold hit him like a physical blow. Wind screamed in his ears as reality twisted. His stomach lurched as the world blurred around him.

Then his feet crunched into deep snow, and his lungs filled with freezing air.

He blinked, adjusting to the sudden brightness. They stood on a vast snowfield surrounded by jagged ice mountains that stretched impossibly high into a pale blue sky. The sun reflected blindingly off every surface.

"Put these on," Aria ordered, tossing him a pair of goggles. "Snow blindness will kill you faster than the monsters."

He slipped them on, grateful for the reduced glare. The gear SEM had provided included thermal clothing, but he could still feel the cold seeping through.

"Beautiful, isn't it?" Lina said, her staff glowing with what must have been a warming spell. The snow around her feet had already begun to melt.

"First time in a frost dungeon?" Brynn asked, her breath creating clouds in the air.

Sunny nodded.

"Stay close to us," she advised. "The ice elementals here can freeze you solid in seconds. And watch for crevasses—they're everywhere and nearly invisible under the fresh snow."

"Don't coddle him," Nyx called over her shoulder. She was already twenty paces ahead, scanning the horizon. "If he can't keep up, he deserves whatever happens."

Aria sighed. "Ignore her. But she's not wrong about keeping up." She activated a device on her wrist, and a three-dimensional map projected above it. "We need to reach the first safe zone before nightfall. That's five miles across this field and through the ice forest."

Sunny adjusted his pack again. "Lead the way."

They set off across the snowfield, the heroes forming a loose diamond formation with Sunny in the center. Despite himself, he was impressed by their efficiency. 

They moved with practiced coordination, Nyx scouting ahead, Brynn watching their rear, Aria leading, and Lina scanning constantly for magical threats.

For nearly an hour, they trudged through knee-deep snow without incident. Then Nyx raised a fist, and everyone froze.

"Movement," she whispered, dropping into a crouch. "Eleven o'clock, behind that ice ridge."

Sunny squinted in the direction she indicated. At first, he saw nothing but pristine white landscape. Then—a flicker of blue movement.

"Frost wolves," Aria murmured, "Take care of them Nyx."

"Heh, finally some action," she looked back at Sunny, "watch and learn newbie."